085: Top Tech Recommendations for a Better Practice

Digital signatures are not the same as electronic signatures, but they are mostly used together. In this session, we'll delve into the legalities and practicalities of using digital signatures in your law practice. Show Notes Link to article on E-Signatures mentioned in the show HelloSign (digital signature service) DocuSign (digital signature service) Adobe Sign (available as part of Acrobat Pro) Link to my online Knowledge Base of PDF proceduress Link to my procedure on creating a PDF signature stamp Link to my procedure on using PDF signature stamps General Resources The 80/20 Principle (my email newsletter) The 5 Pillars of a Tech-Powered Law Practice The Inner Circle (an online community for law firm owners) Thanks to Our Sponsors "ChatterBoss is an incredible remote executive assistant company that helps solopreneurs and small businesses grow quickly and save money. Your dedicated ChatterBoss assistant can help you with case management, billing support, email optimization, social media, process building, automation, and more. They even have on-demand paralegals and legal assistants. The service is customized to your budget and is on-demand, so you are able to work with your assistant as much or as little as you need throughout the week. The minimum monthly spend for a dedicated executive assistant is only $200/month. The best way to get started is to schedule a free consultation and find out exactly how the service works. Click this link to schedule a free 30-minute call, and you'll get a special 15% discount when you sign up with ChatterBoss." Smith.ai is an amazing virtual receptionist service that specializes in working with solo and small law firms. When you hire Smith.ai you're actually hiring well-trained, friendly receptionists who can respond to callers in English or Spanish. If there's one great outsourcing opportunity for your practice, this is it. Let Smith.ai have your back while you stay focused on your work, knowing that your clients and prospects are being taken care of. Plans start at $210/month for 30 calls and pricing starts at $140 for 20 chats, with overage at $7 per chat. They offer a risk-free start with a 14-day money-back guarantee on all receptionist and live chat plans including add-ons (up to $1000). And they have a special offer for podcast listeners where you can get an extra $100 discount with promo code ERNIE100. Sign up for a risk-free start with a 14-day money-back guarantee now (and learn more) at smith.ai. EPISODE CREDITS: If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment. He helps thought leaders, influencers, executives, HR professionals, recruiters, lawyers, realtors, bloggers, coaches, and authors create, launch, and produce podcasts that grow their business and impact the world. Find out more at EmeraldCity

13 Sep 202224min

PDFs are essentially a form of "digital paper"—that is, a way to display text and graphics on a computer or mobile device. PDFs have been fully adopted by federal courts for e-filing and are increasingly being adopted by state courts as well. Although PDFs were not created specifically for the legal profession, with the adoption of PDFs as a way of producing case documents, as well as their use in e-filing, lawyers now routinely encounter PDFs as part of their daily practice. So it makes sense for lawyers and legal professionals to learn more about how to use PDFs. And that's what this session is designed to help you do. Show Notes Click to view the Acrobat Essentials Knowledge Base Working Smarter with Digital Technology (my short guide to improving your practice by using technology better) General Resources The 80/20 Principle (my email newsletter) The 5 Pillars of a Tech-Powered Law Practice The Inner Circle (an online community for law firm owners) Thanks to Our Sponsor Smith.ai is an amazing virtual receptionist service that specializes in working with solo and small law firms. When you hire Smith.ai you're actually hiring well-trained, friendly receptionists who can respond to callers in English or Spanish. If there's one great outsourcing opportunity for your practice, this is it. Let Smith.ai have your back while you stay focused on your work, knowing that your clients and prospects are being taken care of. Plans start at $210/month for 30 calls and pricing starts at $140 for 20 chats, with overage at $7 per chat. They offer a risk-free start with a 14-day money-back guarantee on all receptionist and live chat plans including add-ons (up to $1000). And they have a special offer for podcast listeners where you can get an extra $100 discount with promo code ERNIE100. Sign up for a risk-free start with a 14-day money-back guarantee now (and learn more) at smith.ai. EPISODE CREDITS: If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment. He helps thought leaders, influencers, executives, HR professionals, recruiters, lawyers, realtors, bloggers, coaches, and authors create, launch, and produce podcasts that grow their business and impact the world. Find out more at EmeraldCity

6 Sep 202224min

The best way to learn is to watch other people who are doing what you want to do. When it comes to using technology, that's very hard to do. It would be great if you could peer into the practices of many different lawyers who have practices like yours. You can't peer into other lawyers' computers, obviously. But the next best thing is something called the Inner Circle, which I just created and am excited to tell you about. So that's what we'll be talking about today. Show Notes Working Smarter with Digital Technology (my short guide to improving your practice by using technology better) General Resources The 80/20 Principle (my email newsletter) The 5 Pillars of a Tech-Powered Law Practice The Inner Circle (an online community for law firm owners) Thanks to Our Sponsors "ChatterBoss is an incredible remote executive assistant company that helps solopreneurs and small businesses grow quickly and save money. Your dedicated ChatterBoss assistant can help you with case management, billing support, email optimization, social media, process building, automation, and more. They even have on-demand paralegals and legal assistants. The service is customized to your budget and is on-demand, so you are able to work with your assistant as much or as little as you need throughout the week. The minimum monthly spend for a dedicated executive assistant is only $200/month. The best way to get started is to schedule a free consultation and find out exactly how the service works. Click this link to schedule a free 30-minute call, and you'll get a special 15% discount when you sign up with ChatterBoss." Smith.ai is an amazing virtual receptionist service that specializes in working with solo and small law firms. When you hire Smith.ai you're actually hiring well-trained, friendly receptionists who can respond to callers in English or Spanish. If there's one great outsourcing opportunity for your practice, this is it. Let Smith.ai have your back while you stay focused on your work, knowing that your clients and prospects are being taken care of. Plans start at $210/month for 30 calls and pricing starts at $140 for 20 chats, with overage at $7 per chat. They offer a risk-free start with a 14-day money-back guarantee on all receptionist and live chat plans including add-ons (up to $1000). And they have a special offer for podcast listeners where you can get an extra $100 discount with promo code ERNIE100. Sign up for a risk-free start with a 14-day money-back guarantee now (and learn more) at smith.ai. EPISODE CREDITS: If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment. He helps thought leaders, influencers, executives, HR professionals, recruiters, lawyers, realtors, bloggers, coaches, and authors create, launch, and produce podcasts that grow their business and impact the world. Find out more at EmeraldCity

30 Aug 202221min

Almost all lawyers now use social media of some variety and to some extent. LinkedIn is the one most used. LinkedIn and other social media services let you create a profile. A photo of you is the minimum, as is a short bio that's well-crafted. Every lawyer needs this. And it's not that hard to do. If you sign up for my new Inner Circle forum, you'll get to practice in a space where I can give you direct feedback. Show Notes My LinkedIn Profile Get my Working Smarter with Digital Technology (my short guide to improving your practice by using technology better) General Resources The 80/20 Principle (my email newsletter) The 5 Pillars of a Tech-Powered Law Practice The Inner Circle (an online community for law firm owners) Thanks to Our Sponsors "ChatterBoss is an incredible remote executive assistant company that helps solopreneurs and small businesses grow quickly and save money. Your dedicated ChatterBoss assistant can help you with case management, billing support, email optimization, social media, process building, automation, and more. They even have on-demand paralegals and legal assistants. The service is customized to your budget and is on-demand, so you are able to work with your assistant as much or as little as you need throughout the week. The minimum monthly spend for a dedicated executive assistant is only $200/month. The best way to get started is to schedule a free consultation and find out exactly how the service works. Click this link to schedule a free 30-minute call, and you'll get a special 15% discount when you sign up with ChatterBoss." Smith.ai is an amazing virtual receptionist service that specializes in working with solo and small law firms. When you hire Smith.ai you're actually hiring well-trained, friendly receptionists who can respond to callers in English or Spanish. If there's one great outsourcing opportunity for your practice, this is it. Let Smith.ai have your back while you stay focused on your work, knowing that your clients and prospects are being taken care of. Plans start at $210/month for 30 calls and pricing starts at $140 for 20 chats, with overage at $7 per chat. They offer a risk-free start with a 14-day money-back guarantee on all receptionist and live chat plans including add-ons (up to $1000). And they have a special offer for podcast listeners where you can get an extra $100 discount with promo code ERNIE100. Sign up for a risk-free start with a 14-day money-back guarantee now (and learn more) at smith.ai. EPISODE CREDITS: If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment. He helps thought leaders, influencers, executives, HR professionals, recruiters, lawyers, realtors, bloggers, coaches, and authors create, launch, and produce podcasts that grow their business and impact the world. Find out more at EmeraldCity

23 Aug 202220min

Have you ever thought about selling your law practice? In this episode, you'll hear from a lawyer named Patrick Slaughter, who successfully sold his family law practice in Knoxville, Tennessee, for double what he thought he could get for it. Show Notes info@patrickslaughter (email to use to get in touch with Patrick if you want his help) CallRail (software to track conversions based on phone calls made to your law firm) Working Smarter with Digital Technology (my short guide to improving your practice by using technology better) General Resources The 80/20 Principle (my email newsletter) The 5 Pillars of a Tech-Powered Law Practice The Inner Circle (an online community for law firm owners) Thanks to Our Sponsors "ChatterBoss is an incredible remote executive assistant company that helps solopreneurs and small businesses grow quickly and save money. Your dedicated ChatterBoss assistant can help you with case management, billing support, email optimization, social media, process building, automation, and more. They even have on-demand paralegals and legal assistants. The service is customized to your budget and is on-demand, so you are able to work with your assistant as much or as little as you need throughout the week. The minimum monthly spend for a dedicated executive assistant is only $200/month. The best way to get started is to schedule a free consultation and find out exactly how the service works. Click this link to schedule a free 30-minute call, and you'll get a special 15% discount when you sign up with ChatterBoss." Smith.ai is an amazing virtual receptionist service that specializes in working with solo and small law firms. When you hire Smith.ai you're actually hiring well-trained, friendly receptionists who can respond to callers in English or Spanish. If there's one great outsourcing opportunity for your practice, this is it. Let Smith.ai have your back while you stay focused on your work, knowing that your clients and prospects are being taken care of. Plans start at $210/month for 30 calls and pricing starts at $140 for 20 chats, with overage at $7 per chat. They offer a risk-free start with a 14-day money-back guarantee on all receptionist and live chat plans including add-ons (up to $1000). And they have a special offer for podcast listeners where you can get an extra $100 discount with promo code ERNIE100. Sign up for a risk-free start with a 14-day money-back guarantee now (and learn more) at smith.ai. EPISODE CREDITS: If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment. He helps thought leaders, influencers, executives, HR professionals, recruiters, lawyers, realtors, bloggers, coaches, and authors create, launch, and produce podcasts that grow their business and impact the world. Find out more at EmeraldCity

16 Aug 202245min

A huge pain point for many attorneys is gathering documents from clients & others. Now, there's a better and easier way of doing this. In this episode, we discuss a new service called Pipefile, and you'll hear from Steve Recile, the developer who created it. Show Notes Click here to try Pipefile for 14 days (no credit card required). If you decide to continue using it, enter the promo code 'ernie30' when you sign up for the paid plan to get 30% off your first year's subscription. New Way for Lawyers to Gather Documents (blog post) Working Smarter with Digital Technology (my short guide to improving your practice by using technology better) General Resources The 80/20 Principle (my email newsletter) The 5 Pillars of a Tech-Powered Law Practice The Inner Circle (an online community for law firm owners) Thanks to Our Sponsors "ChatterBoss is an incredible remote executive assistant company that helps solopreneurs and small businesses grow quickly and save money. Your dedicated ChatterBoss assistant can help you with case management, billing support, email optimization, social media, process building, automation, and more. They even have on-demand paralegals and legal assistants. The service is customized to your budget and is on-demand, so you are able to work with your assistant as much or as little as you need throughout the week. The minimum monthly spend for a dedicated executive assistant is only $200/month. The best way to get started is to schedule a free consultation and find out exactly how the service works. Click this link to schedule a free 30-minute call, and you'll get a special 15% discount when you sign up with ChatterBoss." Smith.ai is an amazing virtual receptionist service that specializes in working with solo and small law firms. When you hire Smith.ai you're actually hiring well-trained, friendly receptionists who can respond to callers in English or Spanish. If there's one great outsourcing opportunity for your practice, this is it. Let Smith.ai have your back while you stay focused on your work, knowing that your clients and prospects are being taken care of. Plans start at $210/month for 30 calls and pricing starts at $140 for 20 chats, with overage at $7 per chat. They offer a risk-free start with a 14-day money-back guarantee on all receptionist and live chat plans including add-ons (up to $1000). And they have a special offer for podcast listeners where you can get an extra $100 discount with promo code ERNIE100. Sign up for a risk-free start with a 14-day money-back guarantee now (and learn more) at smith.ai. EPISODE CREDITS: If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment. He helps thought leaders, influencers, executives, HR professionals, recruiters, lawyers, realtors, bloggers, coaches, and authors create, launch, and produce podcasts that grow their business and impact the world. Find out more at EmeraldCity

9 Aug 202220min

Small law firms face constant, dangerous cyber threats. Usually, it's too expensive for them to get expert guidance, but Tom Lambotte is a good friend who has been offering affordable cyber security help for solo and small firm attorneys. In this episode he shares his top 3 recommendations for protecting yourself against cyber threats, including some valuable resources he is making available for free. Show Notes Global Mac IT Bobaguard(click this link to get access to the free resources Tom mentioned in the episode) 1Password password manager LastPass Authy 2FA app Google 2FA Authenticator app Microsoft Authenticator Zapier(automate work across 5000+ popular cloud-based apps, including law-specific apps like Clio) Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, by Robert Cialdini (amazing book used beloved by marketers and sales, and by Charlie Munger) General Resources The 80/20 Principle (my email newsletter) The 5 Pillars of a Tech-Powered Law Practice The Inner Circle (an online community for law firm owners) Thanks to Our Sponsors "ChatterBoss is an incredible remote executive assistant company that helps solopreneurs and small businesses grow quickly and save money. Your dedicated ChatterBoss assistant can help you with case management, billing support, email optimization, social media, process building, automation, and more. They even have on-demand paralegals and legal assistants. The service is customized to your budget and is on-demand, so you are able to work with your assistant as much or as little as you need throughout the week. The minimum monthly spend for a dedicated executive assistant is only $200/month. The best way to get started is to schedule a free consultation and find out exactly how the service works. Click this link to schedule a free 30-minute call, and you'll get a special 15% discount when you sign up with ChatterBoss." Smith.ai is an amazing virtual receptionist service that specializes in working with solo and small law firms. When you hire Smith.ai you're actually hiring well-trained, friendly receptionists who can respond to callers in English or Spanish. If there's one great outsourcing opportunity for your practice, this is it. Let Smith.ai have your back while you stay focused on your work, knowing that your clients and prospects are being taken care of. Plans start at $210/month for 30 calls and pricing starts at $140 for 20 chats, with overage at $7 per chat. They offer a risk-free start with a 14-day money-back guarantee on all receptionist and live chat plans including add-ons (up to $1000). And they have a special offer for podcast listeners where you can get an extra $100 discount with promo code ERNIE100. Sign up for a risk-free start with a 14-day money-back guarantee now (and learn more) at smith.ai. EPISODE CREDITS: If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment. He helps thought leaders, influencers, executives, HR professionals, recruiters, lawyers, realtors, bloggers, coaches, and authors create, launch, and produce podcasts that grow their business and impact the world. Find out more at EmeraldCity

2 Aug 202247min

A lawyer recently asked what places are best to get the attention of prospective clients. But the question is not where to get attention. Rather it's how to get attention most effectively —i.e., in a way that makes people respect you and then trust you enough to engage you and appreciate your hard work. Show Notes How to Build Trust with Complete Strangers (my recent blog post) General Resources The 80/20 Principle (my email newsletter) The 5 Pillars of a Tech-Powered Law Practice The Inner Circle (an online community for law firm owners) Thanks to Our Sponsors "ChatterBoss is an incredible remote executive assistant company that helps solopreneurs and small businesses grow quickly and save money. Your dedicated ChatterBoss assistant can help you with case management, billing support, email optimization, social media, process building, automation, and more. They even have on-demand paralegals and legal assistants. The service is customized to your budget and is on-demand, so you are able to work with your assistant as much or as little as you need throughout the week. The minimum monthly spend for a dedicated executive assistant is only $200/month. The best way to get started is to schedule a free consultation and find out exactly how the service works. Click this link to schedule a free 30-minute call, and you'll get a special 15% discount when you sign up with ChatterBoss." Smith.ai is an amazing virtual receptionist service that specializes in working with solo and small law firms. When you hire Smith.ai you're actually hiring well-trained, friendly receptionists who can respond to callers in English or Spanish. If there's one great outsourcing opportunity for your practice, this is it. Let Smith.ai have your back while you stay focused on your work, knowing that your clients and prospects are being taken care of. Plans start at $210/month for 30 calls and pricing starts at $140 for 20 chats, with overage at $7 per chat. They offer a risk-free start with a 14-day money-back guarantee on all receptionist and live chat plans including add-ons (up to $1000). And they have a special offer for podcast listeners where you can get an extra $100 discount with promo code ERNIE100. Sign up for a risk-free start with a 14-day money-back guarantee now (and learn more) at smith.ai. EPISODE CREDITS: If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment. He helps thought leaders, influencers, executives, HR professionals, recruiters, lawyers, realtors, bloggers, coaches, and authors create, launch, and produce podcasts that grow their business and impact the world. Find out more at EmeraldCity

26 Juli 202226min